Banking Predictions 2026: AI, Ecosystems, Stablecoins and More

For our first episode of 2026, we've pulled together a select group of analysts from across the Global Data family to provide a taster or "amuse-bouche" following our long form predictions reports published at the end of last year.

We start with Doug Blakey, Editor of Retail Banker International (RBI), who will review some of the key events in 2025, and what that portends broadly for 2026.

We then move to Zil Bareisis, Head of Retail Banking at Celent, (now a Global Data company), to cover their top three predictions.

Blandina Szalay, a GD Banking & Payments analyst, will then delve a deeper into stablecoins specifically.

Last, and most definitely least, I, the host, Steve Walker, will comment further on what we expect within AI, Ecosystems, ESG and Digital Mortgages across 2026.